Family roots were very important to the Jewish people. In traditional cultures, genealogies identify the status of people in relation to their ancestry. In such settings, genealogies may be adjusted (e.g., by deleting insignificant or problematic ancestors) in order to fulfill social requirements.

Matthew's genealogy begins with Abraham and moves forward to Jesus. Luke's genealogy begins with Jesus and moves back to Adam and to God.

Matthew's Gospel begins by listing the ancestors of Jesus to make it clear that Jesus is from the family of King David and Abraham. Matthew wrote for people who knew the Jewish Scriptures (which Christians call the Old Testament). Some prophets said that the Messiah would come from David's family (Isaiah 11:1-5). King David was considered Israel's greatest ruler. As a descendant of Abraham, Jesus continues God's promise to Abraham that God will bless all the nations of the earth with life (Genesis 12:1-3).

In Matthew's Gospel, the genealogy emphasizes God's purposes rather than biological connections. It provides an interpretive framework for the Gospel by which everything in the story, including Jesus, is to be understood. God's purposes for the world are displayed in God's covenant relationship with Israel, and these purposes continue through Israel and Jesus. According to Matthew, God originates and guides the events of Jesus' life within the context of Israel's history. Mathew presents Jesus as God's chosen agent, commissioned to manifest God's saving presence in a sinful imperial world. Jesus emerges from Israel and fulfills the Old Testament promise of a messianic king.

Matthew's genealogy is in three sections (1:2-6a; 1:6b-11; 1:12-16). The third section (1:12-16) continues the story from exile to Jesus. Many of the names are unknown; the continuation of the story after Babylon attests God's faithfulness to God's promises and purposes in the midst of imperial power and human faithlessness. Jesus is identified in 1:16 as Mary's son, not Joseph's.

Luke traces Jesus' personal history all the way back to Adam and to God. In comparison to Matthew's genealogy, David's place is not highlighted (3:31; compare with Matthew 1:6, 17).
Biblical genealogies such as the one in Luke's Gospel are hardly ever in exact agreement with other ancestral lists. The aim of Luke’s genealogy seems to be threefold: 1) to identify Jesus as having achieved the age of public service (cf. Genesis 41:46; Numbers 4:3, 23; 2 Samuel 5:4); 2) to ensure that readers know what characters within the narrative do not know -- namely, that Jesus is not Joseph's son (3:23); and 3) to designate Jesus further as the Son of God (3:22, 38). The net effect is to provide for Jesus a form of legitimization appropriate to Luke's world.

Both genealogies trace the family line through Joseph who was legally Jesus' father, though not biologically (Luke 3:23), by virtue of being the husband of Mary (Matthew 1:16).

While no women are named in Luke's genealogy, five are included in Matthew's genealogy: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba (wife of Uriah), and Mary. All except Mary have either Gentile origins or Gentile connections. These women are in relationships that are in some way marginal to and undermine the conventional patriarchal marriage pattern expressed in the 39 appearances of the phrase "was the father of." God works outside this cultural norm. These women are powerless but they show active faith, and God's purposes are accomplished.
 

The Ancestors of Jesus

• Matthew 1:1-17
• Luke 3:23-38